Cleveland Cavaliers: Grading each member of the young core

Darius Garland

Grade: C+

The decision to draft a point guard in back-to-back seasons had many fans scratching their heads. For Koby Altman and the Cleveland Cavaliers front office, Darius Garland was too talented of a prospect to pass up.

Playing in only five games for Vanderbilt due to a knee injury, Garland was quick to leave an impression on scouts. He drilled 11-of-23 attempts from deep and averaged 16.2 points en route to becoming the fifth pick in the draft.

Garland struggled early in the season to shake the rust off after missing multiple months with his injury. He shot just 35.3 percent from the floor in his first 16 games and looked hesitant to shoot the ball.

Gradually, Garland began to catch stride. The shifty ball handler found his rhythm within the Cavaliers offense and began to dazzle opponents with his tight handle and quick release. Since late December, the rookie has scored 14.4 points per game and is shooting a much improved 40.4 percent.

Overall, Garland leads his draft class with a total of 96 3-pointers. He is on pace to break the franchise record for first-year 3-pointers, a record that was previously held by Collin Sexton (119).

There are still some major flaws in Garland’s game. For starters, he is wildly inconsistent. His hot streaks have been quickly matched by equally bad cold streaks. Luckily, it seems he is beginning to find balance with his game and has not had such extreme highs and lows recently.

The best thing that Garland has shown this season is his willingness to buy into the system, whatever that system may ultimately be. He has done his best to make the correct decision with the ball in his hands, often finding open teammates.

Garland leads the Cleveland Cavaliers in assists with 3.7 a game and has increased this number each month. At 20 years of age, there is hope for Garland to become an offensive weapon with dual playmaking and shooting ability.

For now, the jury is still very much out on Garland. It’s impossible to say that his rookie season has been a disappointment but it is far from being a grand slam.